Boot and valve



L. B. CHANDLER.

BOOT AND VALVE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, I920.

1,437, 1 30, Patented Nov. 28, 1922. I

WITNESS INVENTOR Lo an/ 5. 6724222670 Patented Nov 23, 1922.

- UNITE ST I remit LOGAN; B. cnANnLER, or sANraANoIsoo, climbsi- BQOTANDvALvE.

Application filedJuly l,1920. s erialNo. ,164.51

,To all whom it mla y jco acem Be it-known that I, Loo/AN B. CHANDLER, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of the city. and,countyofsan'Francisco, Stateof California,'havel invented a new and usefulBoot and Valve, of Whichthe following is a specification. s i

This invention relatesto a device for, re-

taining a lubricant at. or about a mechanical joint and moreparticularly pertains to a so-called boot for universal joints of n1a-'I chlnery especially unlversalo nts of road 7 vehicles, although itis'to be understood-that the invention is equally applicable to variousmachines in which universal joint structure is utlllzed.

I In the illustrated adaptation; of the invention the structure. isshown as vcombined With a portion of a mechanism including a h drivingand a driven shaft. connected. for relative angular movement by' anuniversal joint. It isnecessary to keep joints of this type thoroughlylubricated and, becauseof the peculiar relative motions of the shaftportions, an eleinent of the joint forming a casing or socketis providedWith, acornvparatively large aperture. through which projects theassociated shaft andv a lubricating medium will freely escapefroni thesocket or-shell of thejoint unless trapped or g retained bya particulardevice, which, coniv. nionly, isinthefforrn of a sleeve or boot throughthe opening;

. vent the v.vvasteor loss of- .the K lubricant from;

therefore, inexpensive in cost of Inanufac ture and merchandising andwhich 1s devold projecting from theopen side of the hen or socket. ofthejointw and encompassing a s/portionjof the shaft. Working contiguouThe. prese tjin ent on hasfor; an object to provide a' valved boot oroil retaining device readily applicable to 'and efliciently serving. thefunction of retaining a lubricant in- 1 an universal joint. i g j a Afurther object ofhthe-invention islto' provide an universal. jointbootenabling the ready supplyof oilforlubr'icant to thejoint,

structure and further, it is an: object tokprethe .j oint; structure;

vide a boot for universal ijpint structures that is ezgtremely simpleincon'stru'ction 'and,'

of looseand separable parts. i A furthenobject' ofthe invention is toprovide an universal joint boot having a lateral filling port with avalve-like closure Another object of the invention is jto proi and,further f to provide a closure substannature of the material of which itis formed; as the valve to prevent loss orleakingof the lubricant,

Theinvention possesses other objects and features of advantage, someofivhich; ivith the foregoing, will be made manifest in the followingdescription of the preferredforrn of the, invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the Specification. Itisto befunderstood that. it is not intended to limit the "invention to theembodiment shown by the said drawing's and description as variations maybe ltiall'y inthe form of an inwardly projecting spout or tube whichserves, byflreason ojfthe 3 adopted ithin the scope'of the inventionas iset forthlin the claims.

Referring to the drawings? i Figure '1 is a perspective of the improvedboot shown as applied to an universal joint structure.

Figure"2 .isa longitudinal; central sectional view throug hth'e applieddevice showing the joint structure dotted linesand showingja portion ofagrease 'gunapplied and the manner in Which'the lubricantis 5 introducedinto the boot 'elmmben Fig. 3 is a central longitudinalsection showingthe position of the flexible tube during a rotation of the boot aboutits axis.

91F ig, etis; a sectional view of a fragment of a boot showing a fo m ofthe. filling tube and valve.

Fig. 5 isasectlonalvieuf showing the form of dev ce of Fig..tlntheclosed position] Fig. GfisQa' perspective "of a form of a.

filling tube; and

Fig. 7s a plan of a form of blankof which afilling tube maybe'vconstructed.

' The: invention is adapted to be applied to universal: joint structuresof various types and, obviously, the embodiment of the boot may bevaried as determined byjthe type or construction of the universaljoint;the latter o'f v vhichneednot' be' 'spe'cifically described 7 which alubricating substance will have little or no deleterious eifect suchmaterial, for instance, being soft leather or suitably treated canvas.or other equivalent material, so that the relative angular movement-ofthe shafts D and P may occur with freedom min the same time permit asubstantially tight joint. at the box B and about the shaft P.

The boot'preferably comprises a tapering sleeve-like body 2 ,of'suitable length, the larger end of which is snugly applicable to the box13 about which it may be bound or clamped by a ring 3 or other suitablemeans and the smaller end of the sleeve or boot 2 is adapted to besnugly contracted by the shaft and secured by a ring or clamp 4 or othersuitablemeans'. In thismanner the boot forms a flexible closure orhousing extending beyond the open end of the box B through which thepropeller shaft P extends.

To the accomplishment of the several oh if jects of the presentinventionthe boot 2 is provided at one side with a port 5, of suitable diameter,into which maybe inserted the nozzle N of a suitable grease gun, so thata lubricating substance maybe injected into the boot and supplied totheuniversal joint. j j

A feature-of the'invention consists in a device, preferably arrangedwithin the boot 2 and coincident with the port 5, which device functionsas'a valve to normally close the port and which opens comparativelyfreely. topermit the injection of the grease from the gun nozzle. I a vA highly efficient, extremely simple and durable, form of closuremay besecured by the provision of a nipple-like inwardly extending spout ortube, preferably formed of flexible and pliant material. disposed withone end about the port 5 so that grease may flow freely through thespout or tube, as

shown in Fig. 2. Such a filling spout is indicated at 6 and may be.formed of a pliant material; such as soft'leather or canvas,

. or other material not readily eifected by the lubricant, and the tube.6 may be constructed by stitchingtogether sections of v to theinnerportion of the boot so that the intake end. of the. tube .12registerswith,

material, a blank form of which section is indicated. at 7 in Fig. 7 ashaving an elongated shank 8 and asemicircular base portion .9 with itsdiametrical edgeat rightangles to the longitudinal edges of the shank 55and stitched along the lines 10 and 11, thus forming a'fiat tubularportion; 12, ig. 6, from oneend of which there may be turnedoutwardlybase-forming flanges 13 and these,

8.. Two of such shanks may be superposed :in turn, may be stitched asat. 14;, Fig.2,

versely through the boot and intersecting the port 5 so that the nippleor tube 12 is'no rrnally bent and thus is caused to be substantiallyconstantly closed by the bringing of the walls of the tube 12 upon eachother, as in a folded position, clearly shown in Fig. 3. This foldingacts in coordination with the natural flat structure of the'tube, asshown in Fig. 6, to cause the tube to act as a flap valve, efiicientlypreventing the return or outward flow of the lubricant through the tube12 and out of the port 5.

During the rotation of the universal oint structure, the lubricant maybe caused to assume a position, indicated at L, by centrifugal force andheld against the annular wall of the'boot during which time the pressureof the lubricant acting in the direction of the arrows A, Fig. 3,further serves to close the tube and prevent loss by leakage.

In Figsi and 5, a slightly modified form of the invention is illustratedin which there is a double valve feature obtained by providing withinthe tube 12 a shorter and inner nipple-like tube or spout 12, similar tothe tube 12 except that it is shorter. In Fig. 4 the valve-forming tubesare shown in the open position assumed. by the injection of thelubricant and in Fig. 5 the tubes are shown in the sealing or closedposition.

It is obvious that'the length and form of construction and the kind ofmaterial may be varied and the parts may be combined and arranged asexpedient or desired.

I claim 1. An universal'joint boot of pliant mate rial having a fillingport, and an interior valve for said. port comprising a collapsibletube. I I v a 2. An universal joint boot havinga filling port, and aninterior valve for said port compr sing a short collapsible tube, and asecond and'longer collapsible tube surrounding saidshort tube.

3. An universal joint bootof pliant material having a filling port, anda flexible tube noe N B.' CH AYN1DLERV.

